When God Speaks Through Dreams
Matthew 2:13-23
What do you think about dreams?
The Greek words for dream occur only 9 times in the New Testament; six times in Matthew, where every one of them has a message from God. Acts 2:17 and Jude 8 contain the other three. Acts speaks of the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work when He is poured forth on the young and old. Jude’s reference is a warning about dreamers who defile the flesh and reject authority. Jude reminds us, who needs a vision when you have a verse. In the Old Testament the Hebrew words for dream occurs 102 times.
A brief look at the passages in Matthew that speak of dreams reveals an amazing conviction that God was speaking in them. Let’s look at these and then discuss what we can learn from.
Matt 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Matt 2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matt 2:13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
Matt 2:19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead."
Matt 2: 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
Matt 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
What do Joseph the husband of Mary, Wise men from the east, and Pilate’s wife all have in common in Matthew? They all had dreams that they considered to be messages from God.
Joseph had four dreams that were messages from God.
The Wise men had a dream that was a message from God.
Pilate’s wife had a disturbing dream about Jesus, was that one from God too?
Before we wade into these dreams lets notice how they fit in with other evidences. As we begin to study Matthew’s gospel, we discover several witnesses to Jesus. The genealogy of Jesus is a witness, the prophecies of the Old Testament are witnesses, the star that appeared was a witness, a dream to Joseph bore witness, and, of course, the virgin birth was a witness.
God got attention using several sources. Dreams were one of the means by which God communicated. For Joseph, it would seem that dreams were the main way God chose to communicate warnings and directions. But who else is involved in dreamy communications from heaven? You kind of expect God to speak to Joseph, but what about Magi from the east? These men are not Jews. They have no claim on the covenants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But God communicates with them too. And what about a Roman governor’s wife? Is she just superstitious? Has God spoken in her dreams too?
To me this is an exciting look into the workings of God revealing his will to these people. I was intrigued enough that I decided to see what else the Bible has to say about dreams and such. Are you interested? On your hand-out are all the scriptures that have the word dream in them. It is an impressive list. In fact, in researching this, I read one paper on biblical dreams that said if all the material in the Bible about dreams and the stories surrounding them were compiled it would take up about a third of the Bible. I haven’t had the opportunity to see if that is true, but if you include visions in with that list, you’d have a huge amount of scripture to consider.
God’s word is clear that dreams were a common way that God used in communicating to people in and outside of Israel. The term vision is often connected with dreaming. Sometimes a vision occurs to someone in a time of worship, particularly prayer. For example Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10-11. Paul, and others also experienced visions from God. Some of Paul’s visions also seem to be dreams. Acts 16:9-10, 18:9 and possibly 27:23 all record Paul’s visions in the night. Visions and dreams are connected in Acts 2:17 where Peter, speaking of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh says, Your young men will see visions and your old men dream dreams. This is a parallelism where dreams and visions refer to a similar experience.
But lets get back to Matthew’s account of Joseph, the Magi, and Pilate’s wife. I’m sure these people had other dreams as well. How did they distinguish which dream was a regular dream and which one was a message from God? I’m not sure about that, but one thing is certain, they took the dreams seriously. I mean just imagine Joseph’s decisions and actions that were based on dreams. First, he took Mary as his wife when he was planning to divorce her. In his dream he got the message not to worry about Mary’s pregnancy, that it was from God and that he should marry her.
I don’t know about you, but that seems like a lot of trust in a dream. More than that, later he has a dream to move to Egypt and he does! Just imagine if your husband woke up and said, “Honey we must move to Russia, God told me in a dream that our government is about to kill our child!” These dreams were not about minor matters. And Joseph was amazingly obedient to the message of God revealed within them.
And think about the Magi. Their decision not to report to Herod might have cost them their lives if they were caught! Herod was no one to mess with, as the death of all the children of Bethlehem 2 years old and under clearly reflected. But think about these Magi. They were men of the east, students of the stars. They wanted to find and worship the child king. They trusted the message of God in the stars and in their dreams. And just think about the dedication they showed and risks they took to follow this dim direction they were given.
Just how subjective is a dream? All through the Bible we find dreams that mean things, but often the meaning is elusive and symbolic. Remember Joseph’s jail-mates? The butler and baker? They had dreams but couldn’t figure them out. Pharaoh also has a dream that he can’t understand. Joseph, the dreamer from youth, says that God is the interpreter of dreams, and gives them the interpretation. And their dreams turn out to be true!
God says that he will give prophets his message in their dreams. Numbers 12:6. But not all dreams in the Bible qualify as a message from God, and some prophets were falsely claiming that their dreams were from God when, in fact, they were leading the people away from God’s will. (Jer. 14:14; 23:16,26,32; Ezek. 13:1,7; 12:24).
Dreams were sometimes subjective and often symbolic. Sorting through what was important and what was last night’s goat stew required attention and interpretation. Joseph in the Old Testament and Joseph in the New Testament are both dreamers aren’t they? And both of them took God at his word, even when that word came in the form of a dream.
Let me make application here: Which would you prefer? A dream from God or a Book?
Which would you most likely listen to and obey? A vision in the night or a verse in the Bible. What would you prefer to stake your eternal life on? An angelic message in a dream, or a Savior and Son of God who came here in person? I love how the Word of God became not a dream but living flesh and blood and dwelt here among us!
God who spoke through angels and prophets has now spoken to us directly through His Son! Hebrews 1:1-4 His words recorded for us in scripture are clear and specific direction for our lives. How much more should we who have this clear word of God dedicate our lives to follow and serve the King of kings and Lord of lords. Dreams may still influence our lives today, but certainly God’s Word about Jesus as recorded for us in scripture is the ultimate fully inspired and complete message for life and godliness to you and me today.
If any preacher, dream or angel from heaven should influence you contrary to what you have here in these pages, let them be accursed.
On the other hand, any preacher, dream or angel from heaven that should influence you in agreement with the Words of Scripture ought not to be rejected. I do not doubt that God may encourage his people with the comfort of the Holy Spirit in whatever way he sees fit. God wants you and me to be saved and he has always been active in guiding and encouraging his children to continue and remain faithful as we journey to glory.
So what do dreams have to do with walking with Jesus today? Whatever would draw you closer to Jesus Christ and direct you into his Word and way may be from the hand of God and we may give thanks to God for them.
*****Handout:
Dreams in the Bible:
Gen 20:3 Gen 20:6 Gen 28:12 Gen 31:10 Gen 31:11 Gen 31:24 Gen 37:5 Gen 37:6 Gen 37:8 Gen 37:9 Gen 37:10 Gen 37:19
Gen 37:20 Gen 40:5 Gen 40:8 Gen 40:9 Gen 40:16 Gen 41:1 Gen 41:5 Gen 41:7 Gen 41:8 Gen 41:11 Gen 41:12 Gen 41:15
Gen 41:17 Gen 41:22 Gen 41:25 Gen 41:26 Gen 41:32 Gen 42:9
Num 12:6
Deu 13:1 Deu 13:3 Deu 13:5
Judg 7:13 Judg 7:15
1 Sam 28:6 1 Sam 28:15
1 Ki 3:5 1 Ki 3:15
Job 7:14 Job 20:8 Job 33:15
Psa 73:20 Psa 126:1
Eccl 5:3 Eccl 5:7
Isa 29:7 Isa 29:8 Isa 56:10
Jer 23:25 Jer 23:27 Jer 23:28 Jer 23:32 Jer 27:9 Jer 29:8
Dan 1:17 Dan 2:1 Dan 2:2 Dan 2:3 Dan 2:4 Dan 2:5 Dan 2:6 Dan 2:7 Dan 2:9 Dan 2:26 Dan 2:28 Dan 2:36 Dan 2:45 Dan 4:5 Dan 4:6 Dan 4:7 Dan 4:8 Dan 4:9 Dan 4:18 Dan 4:19 Dan 5:12 Dan 7:1
Joel 2:28
Zec 10:2
Mat 1:20 Mat 2:12 Mat 2:13 Mat 2:19 Mat 2:22 Mat 27:19
Acts 2:17
Jude 1:8
What do Joseph, the Magi (wise men), and Pilate’s wife have in common?
What evidences does God give in the first 2 chapters of Matthew’s gospel that point to Jesus as the Son of God?
Dreams and stories that surround them make up about a ____________ of the Bible.
Visions and Dreams (Acts 2:17) are sometimes connected.
What are some lessons Joseph, the Magi, and Pilate’s wife and their experiences teach us about trusting the message of God.
Joseph in the Old Testament provides a great example of how God spoke through dreams: they were symbolic and elusive in meaning.
Other Old Testament information about dreams and God’s word: Numbers 12:6, Jeremiah 14:14; 23:16,26,32; Ezekiel 13:1,7; 12:24.
Application: How is God’s message to us better?
A final thought on dreams. Perhaps God influences us through dreams even today, but beware of any influence that does not completely agree with Scripture.
